During Quebec’s last election campaign, Radio-Canada wanted to become the leading destination for credible and verified media coverage. In Canada, consumers trust Google and Facebook as their primary sources of information when a political question arises. Unfortunately, fake news leaves citizens ill-equipped to make educated decisions at the ballot box. So the pubcaster decided to communicate verified, unbiased journalism to several different audiences, based on their interests.

Radio-Canada, alongside PHD Media, was able to optimize the creative according to what was happening in the news. A constant communication flow with Radio-Canada’s newsroom allowed it to react to what politicians were saying in a matter of minutes. Interests were monitored using search analytics and they were identified at the regional level. More than 100 different topics were covered in only 39 days. Consumers were driven to Radio-Canada’s fact-checking website, a mobile app and video content to find verified answers to topical questions posed each day.

The campaign, which picked up a Bronze in Content Strategy, tracked more than 15 million impressions for the 150 ads that were delivered in a province with fewer than six million voters. And on election day, Radio- Canada’s website and app saw more than 1.8 million visits and reinforced its role as a source for real news.